Lock for cotton-press doors



Oct. 9, 1928..

.T. ELLIOTT 1686744 I LOOK FOR COTTON PRESS DOORS Filed Aug.- 24, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l 71/1/11. 'I/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIl/IIIIII 1, v Z5 I Inventor 'a p Z I Attorney Oct. 9, 1928. 1,686,744 T. ELLIOTT LOCK FOR COTTON PRESS DOORS Fi lged mig- 24, 1927 2 sums-s eet 2 Thomas Elliott Inventor By I m I Attorney Patented Oct. 9, 1928.

UNITED STATES THOMAS ELLIOTT, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR TO CONTINENTAL GIN" COMPANY, A CORPORATION' DELAWARE. 1 i

LOCK FOR COTTON-PRESS DOORS.

Application filed August 24, 1927. Serial No. 215,069.

My invention relates to cotton presses, more particularly to means for locking the Opposed side doors thereof, and has for its object the provision of apparatus of the character designated which shall firmly hold the doors in place, when desired, and which shall embody means for gradually releasing the lock.

Locking means for cotton press doors, as heretofore known to me, have usually embodied-a bar or bars extending across the ends of the press from one of the opposed side doors to the other. The bars were usually permanently connected to one of the doors and were each provided at its free end with an eye which fitted over a-cam carried .by theother door. A lever was employed to actuate the cam in order to bring the doors to proper position before pressing a bale of cotton and for releasing the doors after the bale was pressed. V

. While the foregoing arrangement has answered its purpose and has provided a very simple means for locking the doors, serious accidents have somtimesoccured due to the lever being suddenly thrown upward as the cams were turned to release the doors.

This is due to the fact that, after the bale has i been pressed, the cotton is under very high pressure, which exerts a great outward force against thedoors of the press, tending to force them outwardly and to force the cams to release position. The heavy pressure of the cotton against the doors,of course, only acts through a very short distance, yet this short powerful expression acting on the lock mechanism as released, has sometimesled to the serious results above referred to.

In accordance with my invention, I have overcome the before mentioned difficulty by providing a door lock means adapted to be gradually released always under positive mechanical control, thereby avoiding possibility of accidents. Preferably the. lock means embodies a. wedge shaped lock member together with co-operating screw. actuated complemental members, for holding in place. By employing the wedge principle,

together with a screw for gradually releasing the wedge loclr member, I am enabled to gradually permit the doors to ease away from the bale of cottonuntil its pressure has been expended, whereupon the locking bars may be disengaged and the doors let down;

Apparatus embodying features of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application,

wherein V c 1 is an end elevation hav ng my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the press with the superstructure removed; J

Fig. 3 is a sectionalview taken along the line IIIIII of Fig. 2; and Fig.- 4 is a sectional iew taken along the line IV -IV of Fig. 2. I g Referring now to the drawings for a bet ter understanding of myinvention I show a cotton press embodying two opposedjside' of a cotton press doors 10 and 11 and two end doors 12 and i 13. The lower part of'the press has been omitted from the drawing as-it may be "of any, well known construction. *Theupper platen of the press is shown at 316 and is carried by suitable channels 17, as is well understood in .the art. The end doors of the press are braced by a flange member 18 and by. an .upper channel member '19, said membersbeing securely boltedto the doors Extending across the lowerends of the press are structural steel members 21' having be'aringsas' at 22 and 23, thebearings 22 and 23 serving as pivots for the side doors of,

the press whereby they maybe; let "down when desired, to the dotted positions shown inFigl. c Extending across .the upper' part of the front side door of the press are a pair of op- I positely facingchannel members 24 and 26, 7

said channel members constituting a bracing means for the'front door of the press. The rear door of the pressis similarly provided with a pair of channel members 28 and 29.

Carried by'the opposed channel members and bolted between each pair are apair of."

hook-like members 31, 32, 33 and 34, each having an inclined face as shown at 36, the inclined faces being adapted to coact' with flanges 37 carried near the upper end of the end place when cotton is being pressed. Carried by the rear channel members 28 and 29 are a. pair of bars 38 and 39. the bars beingbent over to form loops which are bolted between the ends of the channel members by a relatively large bolt 41, and a smaller bolt 42.

doors, so as to hold the end doors in d The larger bolt 41 serves as'a pivot pcrmitting lateral movement of the bars, which is by the smaller bolt 42. The bars 38 I limited blocks 51 and 52 are inserted. therein and are suitably attached thereto. The bars on each side such as 39 and t? with the wedge shaped' member 49, constitute an important part of my improved locking means.

At each end of the channel 26 is secured a short flange 53, against which the side of the wedge-shaped end of the locking bar is adapted to rest when the doors are in 'posi tion. It will be seen by aconsideration of Fig. 4: that the channel 26 is longer than the channel 24 so that the/locking bar rests on thechannel 26 when in locking position. Carried between the channels 24: and 26 are a pair of bars 56 and 57 havinglend faces which are complemental to the sides of the wedge-shaped locking members and adapted to bear against said members on the sides opposite the flanges 53. In order to hold the bars 56 and 57 in place, a pair of guides 58 and 59 are provided between the channels 24 and 26 and the members 33 and 34: are provided with holes 61 through which the bars 56 and 57 extend and act as outer guide means for the bars. I

Theinner ends of the bars 56 and 57 are provided with inclined faces as shown at 62 and63, which bear against a wedge 6a provided betweenthe ends of the bars. The wedge 64 is provided with a screw and nut operating mechanism 66, the screw terminating in a crank 67 extending in front of the door of the press. It will be seen. by refer ring to Fig. 1, that by means of the handle 67 the wedge .64 may be moved inwardly or outwardly and thus determine the position of the bars 56 and 57 with respect to the wedgcshaped locking members l8 and 49.

, Fromthe foregoing the operation of apparatus made in accordance with iny'invention will be apparent. V7 hen a bale of cotton is t be pressed, the doors ll, 12 and 13 are placed in position, the end doors 12 and 13 being held by the corner members 31, and a. The

bars 46 and i? are turned over across the channel 26 so as to bear a. inst the flanges 53,

r the doors 10 and 11 are brought toward each other to their proper relation and the crank 67 turned-to cause the wedge 66 to force the zbars 56 and 57 outwardly,which in'turn forces the bars against the wedges- :8 an d 4-9. W hen this has been done the doors are firmly held in plaee and the press is ready for operation When the bale of cotton hasbe'cn pressed and it is desired to again open the doors, the crank is turned in a direction to ca Tie thewedge 641-. to gradually release its pressure against thebars 56 and 5". The pressure of the cot-- ton against the doors then gradually forces the doors outwardly until the pressure has been entirely reversed. Vfhcn this point has been reached the bars l6 and 4-? maybe lifted up off the channel 26, and laterally to free then'i fronfi the ends of said channel. The doors 10 and 11 may then be opened wide. 7

Front foregoing it will be apparent that l have provided an improved locking means for the doors of a cotton press wherein the doors may be safely and readily released and opened without danger to the operator.

While I have shown my invention in but ton press, a' locking member for connecting the opposed doors and holding-them in place;

wedge means for securingthe locking member to one of the doors, and screw actuated wedge means for gradually releasing the first mentioned wedge means.

2. A lock the opposed doors of a cotton press, comprising a bar pivoted to one door and having a wedge adapted to engage the other door, a member carried by the said r door and having two inclined'faces one which coacts with said bar wedge to hold thedoors in place, a look wedge coacting with the other inclined face of the member to hold it in engaged relation with the bar wedge, and screw actuated means for'slowly operating the lock wedge. V

Locking means for the opposed doors of a cottonprcss conforming to claim 2 wherein a pair of pivoted bars extend across the ends of the press'from one doorto theother and wherein the lock wedge operates to'simultaneously release both bar wedges.

4. in a lock for the opposed side doors of a 3 the bracing structure of the other door when the doors are in place, a wedge-shaped locking member carried by each link and adapted to be supported by the last mentioned bracing structure, a guide fixedly secured to said bracing structure near each end thereof and adapted to bear againstthe outer side of the locking members, a pair of barshavi'ng faces oomplemental to the wedgemembers, common wedge means for holding the bars in contact with the locking members, and :a screw for slowly actuating the wedge means to release the locking members.

-5. In a press, lock means for the opposed side doors thereof comprising an articulated connection at each end of the press, each connection being pivoted to one door to swing laterally and having a pivot permitting its free end to swing vertically, a wedge on the free end of each connection, wedges on the other door coacting with said first mentioned wedges to holdthe doors in locked relation,

and a common means for releasing said coacting wedges. V

6. In a press, lock means for the opposed side doors thereof comprising a connection mounted at each end of one door and adapted to swing vertically and laterally, a wedge on the free end of each connection, wedge means on the other door adapted tocoact with the wedges on the connections, and screw means to release said door wedge means. v

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

THOMAS. ELLIOTT. 

